Iran's presidential election begins as supreme leader casts vote

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani addresses a mass of supporters during a campaign rally organized prior to presidential elections that will be held on May 19. Iran's presidential election is a choice between moderate incumbent Rouhani and hardline jurist Ebrahim Raisi. [Photo: Nazanin Tabatabaee Yazdi/Polaris]

Iran's presidential election began on Friday morning at 8:00 a.m. local time (0330 GMT) as Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei cast his vote in the ballot box.

Iran's presidential election began on Friday morning. [Photo:China Plus]

Khamenei urged the Iranians to go to the polling stations for the vote at the earliest time.

The election of the president is important in the Islamic Republic and the people should take note of this point, Khamenei said in a live TV broadcast